US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Monday that Israel has accepted a proposal to bridge differences holding up a ceasefire and hostage release in Gaza. He called on Hamas to do the same. Blinken was on his ninth urgent mission to the Middle East since the war in Gaza began more than 10 months ago. He did not say whether the "bridging proposal" addressed concerns cited by Hamas, the AP reports. He said, without offering specifics, there are still "complex issues" requiring "hard decisions by the leaders."
Even if the militant group accepts the proposal, negotiators will spend the coming days working on "clear understandings on implementing the agreement," Blinken said. Hamas has said it is losing faith in the US as a mediator, accusing American negotiators of siding with Israel as it makes new demands that the militant group rejects. Blinken did not say whether the proposal addressed Israel's demand for control over two strategic corridors inside Gaza—which Hamas has said is a nonstarter—or other issues that have long bedeviled the negotiations.
Before meeting with Netanyahu, Blinken said the proposal was "probably the best, maybe the last, opportunity to get the hostages home, to get a ceasefire, and to put everyone on a better path to enduring peace and security," the New York Times reports. His visit came days after mediators, including the US, expressed renewed optimism that a deal was close. His trip also came amid fears the conflict could widen into a deeper regional war following the killings of top militant commanders in Lebanon that Iran blamed on Israel, reports the AP. (More Israel-Hamas war stories.)
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